The 12th installment of the N.C. Black Film Festival gets under way today with a touch of reggae, a splash of Hollywood fashion and more than 20 films on its four-day schedule.

Venues for this year’s festival are the Cameron Art Museum today and Sunday, UNCW’s Warwick Center on Friday and the Hannah Block USO/Community Arts Center building downtown on Saturday.

Among the highlights, according to festival director Charlon Turner, will be a screening of "Put a Ring On It," the new feature from Wilmington writer- director Nakia Hamilton, who was represented in the 2011 festival by the documentary "Welcome to Port City."

Part documentary and part feature, "Put A Ring on It" mixes real-life couples asking relationship questions with an ensemble of actors playing out skits on particular themes. It’s described as "relationship counseling with a bang." The feature screens at 9:15 p.m. Saturday in the Community Arts Center.

The festival kicks off at 6 p.m. Thursday with the traditional "CineMixer," a combination reception and networking session, at the Cameron.

Immediately following, at 7 p.m. Thursday will be the opening screener, "24-Hour Love," which goes into DVD release on Tuesday March 19. Directed by veteran actor Fred Thomas Jr., the romantic drama follows the interlocking lives of several couples.

At 6 p.m. Friday, the scene shifts to UNCW’s Warwick Center for a new festival feature, "Reggae Redemption," which Turner described as a salute to reggae music and Rastafarian culture. Following a brief reception will be the 7 p.m. screening of "One Love," the 2003 Jamaican film about the star-crossed romance between a Rastafarian musician and a church-raised soul singer who meet at a music contest in Kingston. Disharmony follows when her father, a Pentecostal preacher, insists on a church wedding. The film has been praised for its soundtrack, described by the BBC as "a surefooted jolly around commercial dancehall and reggae."

Following at 8:30 p.m. is "The First Rasta" (2010), a documentary by the French journalist Helene Lee on the life of Leonard Howell, a founder of the Rastafarian movement.

The action shifts Saturday to the Community Arts Center, starting with the filmmmakers’ brunch at 10:30 a.m. Film-related discussions will be part of the program. Saturday afternoon, the festival offers a series of blocks of short films, short documentaries and music videos. Of particular interest will be a child-friendly family block, screening at noon. Admission to this program will be free.

One feature film is screening at 12:30 p.m.: "23rd Psalm: Redemption" about a minister and his family, held hostage in their home by an escaped convict.

Two feature films are on the program for Saturday evening, all at the Arts Center. First at 7 p.m. is "Stand Down Soldier," the tale of a female military veteran coping with post-traumatic stress after three deployments in close succession. "Put a Ring On It" follows at 9:15 p.m.

The festival winds up Sunday back at the Cameron, beginning at 3 p.m. with "Fashion in Film," a show with local designers celebrating the looks of such features as "Mahogany," "Harlem Nights," the original "Sparkle" and "The Josephine Baker Story."

The festival’s awards ceremony follows at 4 p.m., immediately followed by the closing feature, "Hiding in Plain Sight." The drama follows a formerly middle-class family of four left homeless by unemployment.

Tickets to most N.C. Black Film Festival events are $5 each, except for the opening selection and the Saturday filmmakers’ brunch, which cost $10 per person. The family block on Saturday is free. Festival passes are available at $25 per person, and will be available at the door for festival events while supplies last.

The N.C. Black Film Festival (formerly Cine Noir) is presented by the nonprofit Black Arts Alliance.

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Want to go?

The N.C. Black Film Festival will be held today through Sunday March 14-17at the Cameron Art Museum, UNCW’s Warwick Center and the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center. Tickets are $5 per block. The opening selection and Saturday filmmakers’ brunch is $10. Festival passes are $25. For more information, visit BlackArtsAlliance.org.